Methods and system for providing context sensitive information

ABSTRACT

A method and system are described for providing context sensitive data to a system user. The method includes the steps of identifying the user and querying databases to create a user context. Information is aggregated from the network databases and filtered using the user context. Providing the correct data needed by the user for that particular time, location and job function.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation and claims priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/681,574 filed May 1, 2001 now U.S. Pat. No.7,620,621 for “METHODS AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING CONTEXT SENSITIVEINFORMATION,” which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

COPYRIGHT STATEMENT

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner authorizesreproduction for purposes of the patent document or the patentdisclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent fileor records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method and system for providingcontext sensitive information to a user, more particularly to a systemwhich provides context sensitive information based on the current usercontext, including current location, and schedule.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Large business organizations utilize a variety of computer and softwaresystems to manage their operations. Such systems are typically designedto focus on a particular sector of the operation, such as finance,inventory control or manufacturing routing. The development of systemsto solve particular needs often results in users having to consult anumber of distinct systems to gather the information needed to makebusiness decisions. To compound the problem, data is often managed by“legacy” systems or otherwise older computer systems and architectures.These systems typically utilize older technology and are often difficultto integrate with newer enterprise systems.

To effectively manage a business, operations data needs to be up to dateand readily available so decisions can be made quickly. A number ofsolutions have been proposed which translate data between a variety ofdatabases. These solutions often allow for the querying of multipledisparate databases. While these solutions allow the interrogation ofmultiple databases, they often require complicated queries that havedisadvantages of being difficult to use and modify by average businessusers. Additionally, these systems typically require the user to “drilldown” through multiple layers of data if the user requires lower levelinformation. For example, determining the inventory level for aparticular manufacturing facility. This often results in an overload ofdata for the user, further complicating the decision making process.

These solutions also tend to be restricted to a limited portion of thebusiness” computer network and thus not available when the user is awayfrom the office, or does not have access to a networked computer.

Accordingly, it is considered advantageous to have a system that canquickly provide critical business data to a user independent of theirlocation. It is further considered advantageous to provide a systemwhich filters this data to provide the data that is most relevant to theusers present location.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

It is therefore advantageous to provide a method and a system forcarrying out the method which provides context sensitive information toa user. The method comprises the steps of identifying a user. Defining aquery and transmitting the query and user identity to a server.Periodically querying at least one database. Retrieving the queryinformation from the at least one database and retrieving userinformation from the at least one database. A subset of the queryinformation is created depending on said user information andtransmitted to the user.

Additionally, the method and system can provide information topredefined zones within a facility. Once a user is detected within azone, the method and system aggregates data requested by the user andapplies a user context to provide a context sensitive informationreport.

Another advantage of the invention is that the method and system inresponse to a user request provide a means for identifying qualifiedpersonnel within a business. The method and system will provide therequesting user with the information, or alternatively contact theidentified qualified personnel and aggregate their responses.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic view of a network of the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic view a multi-site network of theinvention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the invention;

FIG. 4A is a flowchart depicting the operation of one embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 4B is a flowchart depicting the operation of an embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 5 is a view of one embodiment of a report displayed by theinvention;

FIG. 6 is a view of another embodiment of the report illustrated in FIG.5;

FIG. 7 is a view of another report displayed by the invention;

FIG. 8 is a detailed view of a portion of the report illustrated in FIG.7;

FIG. 9 illustrates a schematic view of the network of one of thefacilities in FIG. 2;

FIG. 10 illustrates a schematic view of one embodiment of the inventionillustrated in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 illustrates a schematic view of another embodiment of theinvention; and

FIG. 12 illustrates a schematic view of another embodiment of theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Large business operations utilize computer networks to manage the flowof information. These networks often connect various systems whichmonitor and collect information on various aspects of the businessoperation. Referring to FIG. 1, a typical business operation 20 isshown. The business 20 has a network 22 which connects legacy systems 24and servers 26 to a vast majority of computer nodes. The computer nodesinclude, but are limited to desktop computers or clients 27 in theoffices 28 and manufacturing facilities 30. Typically, variousmanufacturing processing stations 32 also connect to the network 22 toprovide real time or summary data on the status of the processingstation 32.

In addition to the desktop clients 27, the business 20 may also utilizeother portable computing nodes such as, but not limited to, laptopcomputers 34, personal digital assistants 36, or cellular phones 38. Aswill be described in more detail herein, these devices 34-38 may connectto the network 22 through both traditional wired connections 40 orwireless connections 42-46.

A number of network servers 26 are utilized in the operation of thenetwork 22. Two typical servers include an application and data typeserver 48 and a gateway or firewall server 50. The application and datatype server 48 serves the clients 27 software applications and providesa centralized storage of data. It should be noted that while a singleserver 48 is represented here, there may be any number of servers 48utilized by a business 20 to maximize the efficiency and reliability ofthe network 22. The second server, the firewall server 50, connects thenetwork 22 to computer networks 52 external to the business 20. Anexample of an external network 52 would be the internet. The firewallserver 50 is a security device which controls access to the computernetwork 22 from the external network 52.

As will be described in more detail herein, the external network 52connects the network 22 to an external wireless service provider 54. Theprovider 52 contains its own network 56 which allows it to transmitsignals 46 from a transmitter 58 to a wireless device 36, 38. Thetransmitter utilized by the provider 54 may be of a number of differenttypes, for example, cellular, radio, microwave or infrared. Thetransmitter 58 does not have be land bound as depicted in FIG. 1., butmay be located in space (e.g. a satellite) as well.

Typically, in a large multinational company, the business 20 will belarger than a single installation. Referring to FIG. 2, the business 20includes a plurality of facilities 60-68. These facilities may include,but are not limited to, a data-center 60, a corporate office 62, and aplurality of manufacturing facilities 64-68. Each of the facilities60-68 will typically have local area networks 23 which are connectedtogether by a wide area network 70 to form the network 22. Each of thelocal networks 23 will typically have servers 72 which provideapplications and data storage to the local facilities 60-68. As with asingle site business, a firewall server 50 connects the network 22 withan external computer network 52.

To effectively manage the business 20, operations data must beeffectively and rapidly collected and reported if it is going to be usedin the decision making process. Referring to FIG. 3, in accordance withthe exemplary embodiment of the invention, a User Context Application 74operates on a network server 48. This application 74 cooperates with aData Mining Application 76 and a variety of databases 78, 80 to providecontext sensitive data to a system user through the network 22. Thedatabases 78, 80 contain information on the system user and include, butare not limited to, a schedule database 78 which stores information onthe system user's daily appointment schedule and a user database 80which includes personnel information (e.g. job assignment, teamaffiliations) and user preferences. The Data Mining Application 76queries various business information databases 82 to acquire aggregatethe necessary business data required by the system user.

The databases 78-82 are connected and accessible through the network 22.Additionally, the User database 80 may be accessed by any computingdevice, including the client 27 or a wireless device 36.

As will be described in more detail herein, the User Context Application74 provides context sensitive information in response to a request froma system user. For purposes herein, the request may be either predefined(e.g. send me this data every day) or dynamic (e.g. send me this datanow). The context sensitive information is a filtered form of theaggregate information compiled by the Data Mining Application 76. TheUser Context Application 74 applies rules defined by the user to theaggregated information to take into account the system users currentcontext. The user context includes, but is not limited to the followinguser parameters; 1) current physical location, 2) current time of day,3) current week, month and year, 4) current job assignment, 5) currentschedule and 6) current preferences.

A simple example is illustrated in the flowchart shown in FIG. 4A.First, the system user defines what information they need 84 and howoften they want the data aggregated 86. For example, the CEO of business20 is concerned about the level of inventory in the business andrequests that the inventory information be aggregated daily. Sinceinventory is of a concern, the CEO also defines for the system aninventory level (e.g. number of product, monetary value, etc.) which ifexceeded, would generate an alert. The context application 74 collects88 the aggregated data from the data mining application 76. The contextapplication then applies the user context 90 to the aggregate data.Using the example above, the context application determines that the CEOis currently located in manufacturing facility 66 (FIG. 2), that it is9:00 am local time, the CEO is scheduled to meet with the plant managerat 9:30 and that the CEO prefers the data be presented in a “gage” typeformat. Thus, when the context application 74 applies the user contextto the requested information, a report will be constructed andtransmitted 92 to the CEO showing the inventory data for the current dayin manufacturing facility 66.

An alternate embodiment of this process is shown in FIG. 4B. In thisembodiment, a request 94 is made dynamically for a particular set ofinformation. The request is transmitted 96 over the network 22 to thecontext application 74. The context application collects 98 theaggregate data from the data mining application 76 and applies the usercontext 100 to the aggregate data. In this embodiment, the identity ofthe requesting user may serve as both a security feature and a filtersince it allows the data to be refined for that users job function. Forexample, different inventory data may be reported to a manufacturingengineer who works on a particular product line, than the business 20CEO who is concerned about all the product lines. Once the context datahas been created, it is transmitted 102 back to the requesting user. Itis important to note that in both embodiments, if the requesting userdesires to see a higher or lower level of information (e.g. CEO wants tocompare manufacturing facility 66 with the other facilities), systemallows the user to “drill up” or “drill-down” through the data.

FIGS. 5 8 illustrate different context reports as displayed on eitherthe client 27 or one of the wireless devices 36-38. The report 104 (FIG.5-6) shows the user information on a particular manufacturing process orproduct line. The report is sub-divided into a number of regions. A menusection 106, a report section 108 and a metrics section 110.

The menu section 106 allows the user to drill-up or drill-down throughrelated data. By clicking on one of a series of hyperlinked titles, theuser can switch to different related datasets. Alternatively, the usercan review summary overview information, for example, for an entireplant.

The metrics section 110 provides the user with a set of hyperlinks totopics of interest. In the exemplary embodiment, the topics would beparameters being monitored by the business 20, for example, qualitylevel, growth, performance. These parameters may be predefined by asystem administrator or customized by the user.

The report section 108 provides the context summary information in theuser preferred format. As shown in FIG. 5, for each of the measuredparameters 112 (orders, inventory, temperature, etc.) a summary of thedata related to the parameter 112 is displayed. In the exampleillustrated in FIGS. 5 & 6, the data is summarized into four fields,Status 114, Trend 116, Updated 118 and Alerts 120. Each of the fields114-120 graphically displays an indication representative of the datafor a particular measured parameter 112. In the exemplary embodiment,the Status field 114 represents the current status of the parameter 112with respect to the operating plan. The Trend field 116 indicatesdirection the of the parameter, whether it is increasing, decreasing orstaying flat. The Updated field 118 shows the user the defined updateperiod, and the graphical display indicates if the data has been updated(e.g. a check mark) or not (an “X” mark) since the last time the datahas been reviewed. The final field, Alert field 120, displays agraphical symbol when certain criteria are met as described hereinabove. It should be noted that more or less fields can be added to thereport section as needed or desired by the user or business 20.

After reviewing the reports section 108, the user can click on theparameter to gain access to more detail on the particular parameter 112.As illustrated in FIG. 7, the user clicked on the “inventory” parameter112. The detailed display 122 allows information on the inventoryparameter to be viewed at different levels. A tab section 124 allowschanges to the period of time over which the data is summarized, in theexemplary embodiment, this would include day, week to date (WTD), monthto data (MTD), quarter to date (QTD) and year to date (YTD). For thetime period chosen, the data is summarized as defined by the userpreference. As shown in FIG. 7, the inventory for a product is shown foreach plant 125 where it is manufactured. For each plant, a trendindicator 126, an alert indicator 128, and a “gage” or graph 130 isshown for each plant 125.

By clicking a particular plant 125, further detailed information can beaccessed as shown in FIG. 8. Detailed information on the plant 125 couldinclude further trend indicators 132 and alert indicators 134. A detailsection 137 provides comparison data for the time period selected (e.g.day, week to date, month to date, quarter to date or year to date),including the daily average 236, daily average for the previous year 138and the planned daily average 140. A third summary section 141 includesinformation comparing the actual level vs. plan level 142 and acomparison projecting the level total for the entire year (based oncurrent trends) vs. plan level 144.

An alternate embodiment of this system is shown in FIG. 9. In thisembodiment, the facility 64 is divided into discreet zones 146 152. Thezones 146-152 are areas of common interest. For example, in amanufacturing facility zones 146, 148, 150 are each an individualmanufacturing processes or assembly lines. Alternate zones include, butare not limited to, areas 152 such as engineering, shipping andreceiving or the data center. The zones 146-152 are defined bypositioning devices or sensors 154 which detect devices, these devicesinclude, but are not limited to device such as a handheld personaldigital assistant 36, a laptop computer 34, cellular phone 38 or aclient computer 27. Once the location and user are known, the UserContext Application 74 residing on the server 72 can provide contextsensitive information to the user that is particular to that zone.

An example of this embodiment is shown in FIG. 10. An operatorapproaches a quality inspection station 146 in the plant 64. The sensor154 detects her presence and signals the User Context Application 74.The User Context Application 74 queries the User Database 80, determinesthe users job function, current assignment and preferences. The DataMining Application 76 aggregates data on that inspection station 146from the database 82. A context sensitive report is transmitted to thewireless device 36. The report maybe include, for example, informationon the quality of the products inspected at the station 146. The reportmay also include an inspection approval sheet that is digitally signedand approved. If desired, the system also could be used to activate ordeactive controls at the inspection station 146 depending on theidentify of the user. Additionally, the wireless device 36 may includeauthentication functionality (e.g. password, fingerprint, voicerecognition) that provides additional security.

While a cellular or radio wireless device is illustrated in FIG. 10, itis contemplated that other wireless network technologies could also beused such as the BlueTooth wireless network standard or via an infrared.

An alternative to the sensor 27 would be using the Global PositioningSystem or GPS device in each of the devices used by the system user. Inthis embodiment, the zones 146-152 would be created virtually within theserver 72 with the zone boundaries being defined by the GPS coordinatesof the zone. It is contemplated that the portable user devices 34, 36would transmit their coordinates to the server 72. When the device 34,36 moves into a zone 146-152 the system could then apply the appropriateuser context information for that user in that particular zone.

The embodiments described herein above utilize the User ContextApplication 74 to provide context sensitive business data. Anotheralternate embodiment is illustrated in FIG. 11. In this embodiment, theuser has a problem and needs to identify and locate the appropriateexperts within the business. The user transmits via their computingdevice 36, 38 (either wireless as illustrated or via a traditionalclient 27) a command to the User Context Application 74 requestinginformation on a particular topic. The User Context Application queriesthe User Database 80 to ascertain the user context of the user and thenqueries a Expert Database to determine the appropriate businessemployees have an expertise related to that topic. The creation andoperation of the expert database is described in U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 09/711,711 entitled “Methods and Systems for Accessing Experts”which is incorporated herein by reference.

The user context is applied to the returned list of experts to filterout experts that may not be relevant to the particular user. The contextsensitive expert list with contact information is then forwarded to theuser. Alternately, the user Context Application 74 can contact the listof identified experts with a request for information. The message sentto the identified experts may also include information on the locationand identity of the requesting user. The User Context Application 74would collect the responses from the identified experts and forward theaggregated responses to the user. Additional uses for this techniqueinclude the identification and location of service specialists, productsales, or other qualified personnel.

In the case of large corporations, the list of experts could be large.In this case, it is contemplated that the User Context Application wouldsend a list of Expert Communities or groups of experts that may haveinformation pertaining to the user's information request. The User inturn would select the Community they feel is most appropriate andtransmit the data back to the User Context Application 74 for furtheridentification of experts or other qualified personnel.

Since some wireless devices may have limited graphical capabilities ordisplay size. Another embodiment of the invention utilizes apredetermined set of commands created by the system administrator or thedevice user. In this embodiment, the user enters a command followed by afield of information. The command and field are transmitted to the UserContext Application 74 for processing. The User Context Application thenparses the command from the field and executes a predetermined actiondepending on the command. Since the User Context Application has accessto the user context, the resulting set of data or information can bereduced to that considered most relevant to the user at the time thecommand was transmitted. For example, if the user is traveling from anairport to a facility and needs to contact “John Smith” at the facility.The user uses her cellular phone 38 or personal digital assistant 36 tosend a command “PH:SmithJohn” to the User Context Application 74. TheUser Context Application 74 queries the business” Employee Database 158to determine the phone number for all employees named “John Smith”.Depending on the user's preferences, the User Context Application 74will return a list of phone numbers to the user's cellular phone 38. Ifdesired, the user can have the User Context Application 74 return a listof all employees with that name, or more preferably, have the UserContext Application apply a user context taking into account the user'sschedule to filter the list of names to only those “John Smith”s”located at the facility which the user is traveling to. The User ContextApplication 74 can further help the user by prioritizing the list ofcontact using criteria such as job function, team assignment ordepartment. This embodiment of using a command and a field can beapplied to any report desired by the user. Other examples includefinancial reports, system status, product line information or any otherreport that is defined in the system.

While the embodiments describes herein above discuss the transmitting ofa request or command to the User Context Application 74. The system canalso executed via an electronic mail. The User Context Application 74would then be located at a predetermined electronic mail address. Theuser would transmit an electronic mail containing the informationdescribed herein above which would then be sent to the User ContextApplication 74 via an electronic mail server. Information would then betransmitted back to the user by electronic mail. The electronic mailserver may or may not be located on the same server as the User ContextApplication 74. The use of electronic mail provides the advantage ofintegrating the User Context Application into an existing network 22with a minimal effort.

As described above, the present invention can be embodied in the form ofcomputer implemented processes and apparatuses for practicing thoseprocesses. The present invention can also be embodied in the form ofcomputer program code containing instructions embodied in tangiblemedia, such as floppy diskettes, CD-ROM”s, hard drives, or any othercomputer-readable storage medium, when the computer program code isloaded into and executed by a computer, the computer becomes anapparatus for practicing the invention. The present invention can alsobe embodied in the form of computer program code, for example, whetherstored in a storage medium, loaded into and/or executed by a computer,or transmitted over some transmission medium (embodied in the form of apropagated signal propagated over a propagation medium, with the signalcontaining the instructions, embodied therein), such as over electricalwiring or cabling, through fiber optics, or via electromagneticradiation, wherein, when the computer code is loaded into an executed bya computer, the computer becomes an apparatus for practicing theinvention. When implemented on a general-purpose microprocessor, thecomputer program code segments configure the microprocessor to createspecific logic circuits.

While the invention has been described in terms of various specificembodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the inventioncan be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of theclaims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for providing context sensitiveinformation to a user associated with a business entity comprising:defining a plurality of physical zones associated with a businessentity, each zone defining a physical area in which the user can belocated; determining an identity of the user within one of saidplurality of zones; determining personnel information for the user, saidpersonnel information including data on the user's role within the oneof said plurality of zones; transmitting information relating to the oneof said plurality of zones to the user; and, determining whatinformation is required for the user's role comprising the steps of:determining when the user moves from a first zone to a second zone; andtransmitting a second zone information to the user, said second zoneinformation including a subset of the information required for theuser's role, said subset being information related to said second zone.2. The method of claim 1 wherein said zone information includes a subsetof the information required for the user's role, said subset beinginformation related to said zone where the user is currently located. 3.The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of: authenticating theidentity of the user within said zone.
 4. The method of claim 3 furthercomprising the step of: enabling access to facility or controls based onthe users identity and the zone where they are located.
 5. The method ofclaim 3 wherein said zone is processing equipment, said zone informationincluding processing parameters for the processing equipment in saidzone.
 6. The method of claim 3 wherein said zone is a quality inspectionarea, said zone information including inspection parameters and summarydata on the quality level of the products being inspected.
 7. The methodof claim 6 further comprising the step of activating authorizationsoftware for said zone associated with the user's role.